Rotary folding mechanism



Aug. 20, 1940. c. G. QUICK ETAL 7 ROTARY FOLDING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 50, 1939 Sheets-sheet 1 INVENTORS fee/7 6: Quick l \/////o/27 A W/7/7G/260O' Aug. 20, 1940. c. a. QUICK ET AL 1 2,211,791

- ROTARY FOLDING MECHANISM I Filed Nov. so, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 20, 1940.

C. G. QUICK ET AL ROTARY FOLDING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 50, 1938 ATT'Y Patented Aug. 20, 1940 PATENT OFifiE ROTARY FOLDING MECHANISM Cecil George Quick and William Arnold Whitehead, London, England, assignors to R. Hoe 8; Co. Inc., New York,'N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 30, 1938, Serial No. 243,186

In Great Britain December 15, 1937 I 9 Claims.

This invention relates to rotary folding mechanism. In such mechanism twoclasses of apparatus exist; one relies for its operation on a folding blade or equivalent member which is caused to be progressively projected from a cylinder (around which the sheets to be folded are taken) so as to project or deliver the sheets between the' nip of folding rollers which folds the product about the line of projection: in the second class commonly known as a nip and tuck folder, the sheets are carried on one cylinder 1 having a more or less radial folding blade which causes the sheets to project from the cylinder so that they can be gripped between more or less radial folding jaws on another cylinder rotating in the opposite direction to the'first, the rotation between the cylinders causing the blade to leave the product between the folding jaws which thus not only fold the sheets but take charge of them and deliver them in the continued rotation of the second cylinder. The first class of mechanism is commonly used for high speed folding as for example in newspaper presses andv while it will operate efficiently to form the fold about a desired fold line at the particular speed for which the mechanism is designed or set, it has the disadvantage that the fold departs from the desired fold line if the speed departs from the particular speed. This defect is particularly disadvantageous in machines which are called upon to operate at different speeds for different products. The second class of mechanism does not suffer from this disadvantage but on the other hand as at present designed it is not capable of operating at the high speeds of the first mechanism and has the disadvantage that as the folding blade and the folding jaws are radial (or at least are arranged so as to form the fold about a more or less radial plane) and are carried by different cylinders, there is a marked tendency for the folded edge of the product to be bent at an angle to the body of the product and unless special precautions be taken difficulties are encountered dueto this bent folded edge.

According to one feature of the present invention, the folding jaws and blade are so arranged as to interact to form a fold about a plane which is more or less tangential, i. e. the plane of the blade is during the fold forming period more or less at right angles to the plane containing the axes of rotation of the blade and, jaw cylinders and the jaws are arranged to form the fold about the leading edge of the blade and are caused to have a speed greater than that of the blade. Hence when the fold is formed by the jaws over the leading edge of the blade the jaws then proceed (by reason of the greater speed) to strip the folded product from the blade, this action occurring before there is any substantial sideways recession (due to the rotation of the cylinders) of the jaws from the blade.

This mechanism combinesthe advantages of the two classes of mechanisms referred to while avoiding the disadvantages or in other words providing a mechanism which will fold at high speeds which can be varied without affecting (or appreciably affecting) the position of the fold line.

A further feature of the invention relates to means by which products may be taken from the gripper jaws which may be the folding jaws of a nip and tuck type of folding mechanism serving to convey the products around with a rotarycarrier or cylinder and according to this feature means are provided for gripping the tail (or lagging ends) of the product and thereby pulling the leading or'folded edge of the product from the gripper jaws or folding jaws. This means is also adapted to effect a count of the products by causing the tail gripping mechanism to operate at certain times for the products of the counted batch and at slightly different time for the count product which (being gripped earlier or later than would have been a product'in the count) would lie ahead of or in the rear of the products of the count.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is an end elevation and Figure 2 a skeleton end elevation showing one form of construction, and Figure 3 a view similar to Figure 2 of a modified arrangement. l

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2, l indicates afolding blade cylinder having a folding blade, 2 and 3 indicates a parallel jaw cylinder provided with two sets of folding jaws indicated generally by the references 4 and 5, the cylinder 3 rotating in the opposite direction to the cylinder I. W indicates the web which is to be severed and folded. The cylinder 3 is twice the diameter of the cylinder I so that the folding blade 2 on the cylinder I co-operates with the jaw mechanisms 4 and 5 in succession.

The cylinder I has a cutting knife 5 which cooperates as the cylinder rotates with a gutter I in a cylinder 8, the web W being led between the cylinders l and 8 so that the web W is severed into product lengths.

The cylinder I is provided with pins 9 which are arranged to be projected beyond the periphcry of the cylinder to take the leading end of the web W from the cylinder 8 and to convey the leading end around the cylinder I. The pins are controlled through arms 9 secured to a spindle 9 having an operating arm 9 provided with a bowl 9 which is controlled by a cam track 9 having in it a projecting part 9 which when the bowl 9 encounters it operates to rock the arm 9 which in turn withdraws the pins 9 to release the leading end of the web W.

The folding blade 2 is carried by and extends from a block II] which normally holds the blade in a plane more or less at right angles to a radial line from the centre of rotation of the cylinder l i. e. the blade is more or less tangential to the cylinder I. This block is pivotally mounted in the cylinder I, and is biased by a spring II normally holding the blade in the position shown which is determined by a stop I2 in the path of the block I0, these parts being accommodated in a recess I3 in the cylinder I across which the pins 9 operate to draw the web W as the cylinder I rotates.

Each folding jaw mechanism 4, 5 (which are similar and are spaced apart consists of a part I fixed to the cylinder 3 and being proud of the surface thereof and a movable part I5 secured to a shaft I6 mounted to rock in the cyl inder 3, the shaft I6 being provided with an arm I! having a cam bowl I8 controlled by a fixed cam track I9.

The action of the track I9 is to move the movable part I5 towards and away from the fixed part I4 and the jaw surfaces formed between the two parts are directed so as to be in a plane more or less at right angles to a line radial of the cylinder 3.

When now the cylinders I and 3 are rotated the leading end of the web W is taken by the pins 9 and carried round with the cylinder I, the web being pulled across the recess I3 in the cylinder I. The blade 2 and the jaw parts I4, I5 approach one another and at this time the movable jaw piece I5 is moved from the fixed jaw piece M to open the folding jawv This movable jaw piece I5 first engages the web W where it is pulled over the recess I3 and the nose of this piece I5 flexes the web into the recess and in so doing passes it across the leading edge of the blade 2, the pins 9 being operated to release the leading end of the web to permit this action to occtu. The movable jaw piece I5 is now pivoted towards the fixed jaw piece I l and this results together with the approach of the fixed jaw piece 14 towards the blade 2 in folding the web W over the leading edge of the blade 2 and so forming a fold. The circumferential speeds of the two cylinders I and 3 are equal, and as the folding pieces 55 are moved along a path beyond the periphery of the cylinder 3 while the blade 2 is within the periphery of the cylinder I, the folding pieces are moved at greater speed than does the blade with the result that the closed pieces will (in the continued rotation of the cylinders) advance from the blade 2 and take with them the folded edge of the product which has now been severed by the knife 6 from the web W. It is to be appreciated that the'foregoing operations occur during the period that the blade 2 and the jaw pieces l6, I5 being'at right angles to radial lines are more or less parallel with one another, hence the folded product is stripped by the jaw pieces I4, I5 from the blade 2 more or less in a direction in line with the blade and in the same sense as the common sense movement (during the fold forming operation) of the blade and jaw. By this means, any tendency to form a fold back of the folded edge is avoided.

In the arrangement so far described the pins 9 are caused by the projection 9 to release the pins from the leading end of the web W in each rotation of the cylinder I, this being effected when it is desired to fold an uncollected product and both sets of jaws 4, 5 operate in succession. In order however to enable a product to be collected on the cylinder I before the folding operation occurs one of the sets of jaws is rendered inoperative and mechanism is provided to release the pins only in alternate rotations of the cylinder I.

To effect this the cam projection 9 is formed on an arm 25 pivotally mounted at 2| and connected to an arm. 22 fast on a block 23 engaged by an eccentric 24 on the shaft 25 of the cylinder 3. This arm 20 is caused by the eccentric 24 to rock between two extreme positions once in each two revolutions of the cylinder I: in one extreme position the projection 9" lies in the path of the bowl 9 as the bowl sweeps through the track and in the other position the projection is below the surface of the cam 9 and hence is out of the path of the bowl 9 Thus, in one rotation of the cylinder I the bowl 9 sweeps through the track 9 without the pins 9 being withdrawn: so that the leading end of the web W is not released in this rotation, the folding co-action between the blade 2 and the inactive folding jaws I l, I5 does occur and the sheet (now severed from the web) passes around with the pins 9 which pick-up the fresh leading end of the web which latter finally becomes (after the severing operation) a second product length which is collected with the first product length and carried around the cylinder I. During the following rotation of the cylinder, the projection 9 is moved into the path of the bowl 9 so that in this rotation the pins 9 release the collected products which are consequently folded off by the co-action between the jaws Ia, I5 and the blade 2.

It will be seen that the folded edge of the product gripped between the folding jaws l4, I5 is carried thereby around with the cylinder 3: in order to! steady the tailing part of the folded product as it passes around with the cylinder, there is provided a driven roller 26 the periphery of which controls the product between itself and the periphery of the cylinder 3. The roller 26 is cut away as indicated at 2'! so that the jaws I4, I 5 are afforded clearance to sweep past the roller as the jaws are carried round by the cylinder 3.

The mechanism now to be described is provided for effecting a count of the products as they are delivered from the cylinder 3 to a conveyor belt C, the count being afforded by displacing at regular intervals one product in a stream of products. For this purpose the cylinder 3 is provided with two similar gripper members 28 which have two angularly spaced gripper surfaces 29, 3D, the members 28 being carried for rotation on shafts 35 mounted in the jaw cylinder 3. The shafts are provided with gears 32 in mesh with a stationary internal gear 33 so that as the cylinder 3 rotates the shafts 3| are caused to rotate and the surfaces 29, 30 periodically projected beyond the periphery of the cylinder: one of the surfaces 29 is arranged when projected to engage the tail end of a product gripped by one of the sets of jaws I4, I5 between itself and a normally stationary pad 34 and the other surface 30 is arranged to engage the tail end of a product between itself and a second pad which is displaced from the first in the direction of rotation of the cylinder 3, this second pad being constituted by a roller 35; the gripper members are rotated about theirown axes in a direction opposite to the rotation of the jaw cylinder when the gripper members co-operate with their respective pads resulting in their forward movement due to the rotation of the jaw cylinder 3 being cancelled more or less by their own rotation. Hence the gripper members are more or less brought to rest during a period in which they co-operate with their pads.

During the time that products constituting the count are being delivered the leading gripper surface 29 is projected from the jaw cylinder and presses the tail end of the product against the normally stationary pad 34 at which time the gripper pressure exerted by the folding jaws l4, 15 on the leading end of the product is relieved: as (due to the rotation of the gripper member about its ownaxis) the gripper surface is more or less brought to rest, the tail end of the product is gripped between the surface 29 and the pad 34 and thereby held while the cylinder 3 continues its rotation: thus the product is pulled from between the folder jaws l4, l5 and falls onto the conveyor belt C which is constantly advancing below the cylinder 3. In order now to displace a count product, cam mechanism is provided for moving the normally stationary pad 34 to a position clear of the gripper surface 29 with which it normally co-operates: by this means although this gripper surface 29 will still be projected in the rotation of the cylinder 3 it is unable to grip the tail end of the product as the pad 34 is absent. The other gripper surface 30 however operates to grip the tail end of a product between itself and the second pad 35 and as this operation occurs later in the rotation of the jaw cylinder 3 the count copy is enabled to travel further with the jaw cylinder before it is pulled from the jaws l4, l5: thus this count product when it falls on to the conveyor belt C" is displaced from the regular succession of products previously gripped by the first surface 29 and pad 34 and those which will follow, for it will be appreciated that the first gripper pad 34 is rendered inoperative for only one (i. e. the count) product. This effect necessitates that the first pad 34 be moved out of operative position and then back again very quickly and while this effect could be obtained with a cam of large size it is preferred to employ the following arrangement. The pad 34 is pivotally carried by a lever 36 and pressed by a spring 36' to the operative position shown in Figure 1. This lever is secured to a shaft 31' having an arm 38 on which is pivotally mounted a lever 39 having at its ends cam followers 40, 4|, the shaft 31 having also an arm 42 on which operates a return spring 43. The followers 40, 4! are respectively controlled by two cams 44, 45 rotated at different speeds, the cam 44 being in the form of a track into which the follower 4U enters and the cam 45 being in the form of a piece to trap the follower 4!. The cam 44 is driven at the greater rate and it will be seen that although the cam 44 positively rocks the lever 39 once in each rotation, the lever 39 merely moves idly about its pivot until the cam piece 45 at the same time traps the follower 4| to provide a reaction point for the follower and hence for the lever 38. When thus both cams 44, are operative together, the lever 36 is caused to be rocked against the action ofthe spring 43 in an anti-clockwise direction to carry the pad 34 momentarily clear of the surface 29 which as described is rendered thereby ineffective to grip the trailing end of 'a count product. In other words until both cams 44, 45 are operative at the same time, the lever 39 merely floats leaving the gripper pad 34 unaffected by either cam alone and since the cams have different speeds, the time of coincidence may be determined without the use of large cams.

The movable mounting of the pad 34 enables it to yield slightly to the co-operating gripper surface 29 on the gripper member and thus provide in effect a spring jaw arrangement. In order also to assist in stripping products from this pad and on to the conveyor C, a rotatable disc 46 provided with peripheral radial fingers 41 can be employed, the fingers operating as propellers to eject the products from the pad 34.

It will be understood that the shafts 3| would have two members 28 spaced longitudinally apart thereon and two spaced pads 34 and rollers 35 would correspondingly be provided so that the products are gripped at points across the width of the product.

- The conveyor C could be a short one leading to an extended conveyor C leading to the front of the machine.

The arrangement described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 is adapted to deliver to one side of a machine a product severed from webs W having the title page on the same sidethe product being delivered with the title page on the outside of the fold. For example, the title page would be (as seen in Figures 1 and 2) on the right hand side of the webs W and the folded product delivered to the right would be folded'so that the title page is on the outside. In some cases it is required to provide a folding mechanism to fold products taken from two web runs having the title page on the same side but to deliver the products to opposite sides of the machine with both products folded with the title pages on the outside of the fold. Thus supposing that the two web'runs J have their title pages on the right, then the mechanism shown in Figures 1 and 2 could without modification be employed to fold products taken from the right hand web run and deliver them to the right. For the products to be taken from the left hand web run and delivered to the left, it is necessary to provide a modified arrangement which will change the direction of'the folded products. For this purpose and referring to Figure 3 many of the parts have a function similar to the function of the parts fully described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, these parts being indicated by similar numerals. In Figure 3 there are employed three cylinders 43, 49, of these cylinders, the cylinder 48 is similar to the cylinder l in that it carries the sheet taking pins 9 and the folding blade 2. to the cylinder 3 in so far as it carries the folding jaws l4, l5 to co-operate as already described with the folding blade 2, this cylinder however replaces the cylinder 8 in so far as the gutter I is carried by the cylinder and moreover, the rotatable members 28 are omitted from the cylinder and are mounted on the cylinder 50 which operates as a delivery cylinder. This cylinder is also provided with two sets of gripper mechanisms 5|, 52 which constructionally are similar to the folding jaw mechanisms 4, 5 i. e. they comprise arms 53 carried by a shaft 54 having an arm 55 provided with a bowl 56 controlled by a fixed cam The cylinder 49 is similar 51, the arms 53 being disposed to co-operate with parts 58 fixed to the cylinder 50. It will be observed that this cylinder 58 rotates in the opposite direction to the cylinder 49 and thus it follows that as before the Webs W led'to the cylinder are taken by the pins 9 and are severed into-product lengths by the co-operation of the knife 6 and one or other gutter l, the folding co-action between the blade 2 and the jaws occurring in every other rotation of the cylinder 48 dependent on the control of the pins 9 as regulated by the eccentric 24 as has been described with reference to Figures l and 2.

The folded product now passes as before around with the cylinder 49 but is transferred from this cylinder 49 to the cylinder 50 before it is delivered. To effect this the gripper jaws 53, 58 on the cylinder 50 are operated as the cylinder rotates to close on to the product taken by the jaws M, l and to take the product from these latter jaws so that the product is now carried around with the cylinder 50 with its new direction. The rotatory members 28 on the cylinder 58 co-operate as has already been described to strip the products by urging the tail end of the products either against the pad 3 3 operated in the manner already described or against the roller 35. In this case however the stripped product falls on to a conveyor C to convey the products to the left to a second conveyor C also moving to the left, the conveyors corresponding to the conveyors C and C except for the direction of movement.

It is to be appreciated that the feature of the invention relating to the counting mechanism is capable of general application to cases where a product is gripped between jaws and carried thereby around with a cylinder.

What we claim is:

1. In rotary folding mechanism the combination of two cylinders, means to rotate the cylinders in opposite directions, product taking means on the first cylinder, means to operate the product taking means to take a product and carry it around with the cylinder, a folding blade, means supporting the folding blade on the first cylinder in a position approximately tangential, folding jaw members, means to support the jaw members on the second cylinder so that they rotate into register with the folding blade on the first cylinder and means to operate the folding jaws to fold a product over the blade and then to strip the product from the blade in a direction substantially in line with the folding blade.

2. In rotary folding mechanism the combination of two cylinders, means to rotate the cylinders in opposite directions, product taking means on the first cylinder, means to operate the product taking means to take a product and carry it around with the cylinder, a folding blade, means supporting the folding blade on the first cylinder in a position approximately tangential, folding jaw members, means to support the jaw members on the second cylinder so that they rotate at a speed in excess of the speed of the folding blade into register with the folding blade on the first cylinder and means to operate the folding jaws to fold a product over the blade and then to strip the product from the blade in a direction substantially in line with the folding blade.

3. In rotary folding mechanism the combination of two cylinders, means to rotate the cylinders in opposite directions, product taking means on the first cylinder, a folding blade on the first cylinder and supported in a substantially tangential position thereon, means to operate the product taking means to take a product around with the first cylinder and pass it over the folding blade, a folding jaw mechanism supported by the second cylinder so as to rotate into register with the blade, the said mechanism comprising a fixed part and a movable part, means to move the moving part towards the fixed part during a period of register, whereby the product on the first cylinder is folded over the blade and then is stripped therefrom in a direction substantially in line with the blade, and means to operate the product taking means to release the product to be folded over the blade.

4. In rotary folding mechanism the combination of two cylinders, means to rotate the cylinders in opposite directions, product taking means on the first cylinder, means to operate the product taking means to take a product and carry it around with the cylinder, a folding blade, means supporting the folding blade on the first cylinder in a position approximately tangential, folding jaw members, means to support the jaw members on the second cylinder so that they rotate into register with the folding blade on the first cylinder, means to operate the folding jaws to fold a product over the blade and then to strip the product from the blade in a direction substantially in line with the folding blade, the product being taken around with the second cylinder, an endless conveyor, and means to strip the product from the second cylinder to the conveyor.

5. In rotary folding mechanism the combination of two cylinders, means to rotate the cylinders in opposite directions, product taking means on the first cylinder, means to operate the product taking means to take a product and carry it around with the cylinder, a folding blade, means supporting the folding blade on the first cylinder in a position approximately tangential, folding jaw members, means to support the jaw members on the second cylinder so that they rotate into register with the folding blade on the first cylinder, means to operate the folding jaws to fold a product over the blade and then to strip the product from the blade in a direction substantially in line with the folding blade, the product being taken by the folding jaw mechanism around with the second cylinder, a third cylinder, means to rotate the third cylinder in a direction opposite to the second cylinder, product taking means on the third cylinder to take the product from the second cylinder, an endless conveyor and means to strip the product from the third cylinder to the endless conveyor.

6. In a rotary folding mechanism, a first rotatable cylinder having means to engage and hold a sheet thereon and having a folding blade held in an operating position substantially tangential to the curvature of the cylinder, and a second rotatable cylinder having folding jaws adapted to cooperate with the folding blade; the said folding jaws including a pair of jaw members, one of which is movable outward from the second cylinder and away from the other jaw member to receive a product thrust between the said jaw members by the folding blade and is movable inward toward the cylinder to engage and fold the product.

'7. In a rotary folding mechanism, a first rotatable cylinder having means to engage and hold a sheet thereon and having a folding blade held in an operating position substantially tengential to the curvature of the cylinder, and a second rotatable cylinder having folding jaws adapted to cooperate with the folding blade; the said folding jaws including a first jaw member fixed on the cylinder, and a second jaw member movable away from the first jaw member to receive a product thrust between the said jaw members by the folding blade, and movable toward the first jaw member to engage and forward the product.

8. In a rotary folding mechanism, a first rotatable cylinder having means to engage and hold a sheet thereon and having a pivotally supported folding blade held in an operating position substantially tangential to the curvature of the cylinder, and a second rotatable cylinder having a relatively fixed jaw, and a jaw member movable outward from the second cylinder and away from the jaw to receive a product thrust between them by the folding blade; the said folding blade being arranged to swing on its pivot to press the product against the jaw while it is being folded.

9. In a rotary folding mechanism, a first rotatable cylinder having means to engage and hold a sheet thereon, and having a folding blade held in an operating position substantially tangential to the curvature of the cylinder, and a second 

